


Heaven's Not My Home

by Dylangasmsforusall (En_Kelleher)



Category: Leverage
Genre: Blood, Bodily Harm, Everyone's Okay, F/M, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Near Death Experiences, Violence, but there may have been a moment when they weren't
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:36:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24990121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/En_Kelleher/pseuds/Dylangasmsforusall
Summary: When Nate and Sophie bring a job to the Trio, things do not go as planned.  Elliot is pretty badly injured while trying to get Parker and Hardison out of there, and they have to overcome some mortality and panic issues.
Relationships: Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer
Comments: 12
Kudos: 98





	Heaven's Not My Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dylinski](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dylinski/gifts).



> Another fic for my lovely [Sarah](http://Dylinski.tumblr.com)!! I hope this finds you well into your feels, Darlin', don't hate me too bad!
> 
> Ya'll come find me on [Tumblr](http://Dylangasmsforusall.tumblr.com) and fangirl with me!
> 
> Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated and spur on more writing! Thanks ya'll!

Be first.

That was generally Eliot’s M.O when it came to a fight. Hit first and hit hard. Go for the head to make sure the opponent hits the ground and stays there. It was the quickest and easiest way to ensure that his team was safe- knock out the bad guys and let your team escape unscathed. Using all the generally dirty moves from a professional fight to bring down the other man was a good way to ensure that Eliot had the upper hand. Kidney shots, temple shots, groin shots, soft tissue organ hits; those were the ones that Eliot would use quick as a snake to bring down whoever needed to be brought down.

It didn’t matter if Eliot walked away bloody and bruised or broken. It didn’t matter what happened to him, as long as his team was safe. 

As long as Hardison and Parker got out.

______________________________

Every time Eliot moved up behind the goons that had his people cornered and got to see the slow triumphant proud-like smile curve their lips as they knew he was coming to get them, Eliot felt his heart stutter in his chest. That may not have been the best time to get butterflies, so to speak, but it only fueled Eliot more to get his people out of the situation at whatever cost. He was never not going to come for them.

Until his dying breath.

“What’re you smiling at?” The thick accent of who appeared to be the head goon smirked at Parker and Hardison as they grinned a little maniacally in front of them.

Just as Parker lifted her shoulders in a semi-innocent looking shrug, Eliot let out a little whistle to garner the goons’ attention. They whirled around as Eliot was already moving. Two bodies hit the ground before everyone had turned towards him, and he was off like a shot. His fists, feet, and knees connected with bodies quick as lightning, his own body taking its own abuse as multiple men came at him at once with their fists and their weapons.

Eliot didn’t care about gettin’ hit. He cared about his people gettin’ out.

“Go!” He hollered over his shoulder as he wrenched one goon’s arm around so hard that there were several snaps inside the limb.

Hardison and Parker began moving, getting out of there as quick as they could. Good, Eliot thought, continuing to drop all of the men around him as quick as he could so that he could follow his partners out of the mess that Nate had orchestrated.

It felt like everything in his damn job was going wrong, but if one thing went right, it was going to be them getting out safe, or Eliot be damned.

He was moving away from the pile of goons he’d just dropped and running around the corner after Parker and Hardison when he looked up. He gave the two of them a smirk before he noticed their faces changing from a grin to something horror struck. 

Eliot didn’t understand for a moment before he felt striking white hot pain fill his body from multiple points.

The only thing he heard before he hit the ground was the shattered scream of “Eliot!!!” from both Parker and Hardison.

Eliot struggled to stand up, to continue the job and get everyone out, but his arms were shaking where he tried to lift himself. He felt a bubble rise up his throat and burst the flavor of copper along his tongue.

Fuck. That was not good. Eliot struggled to lift his head and look at Hardison and Parker hanging out of the van, to yell at them to go, but as soon as he opened his mouth he felt the thick stream of blood pour past his lips and down his chin.

The last thing he saw was Parker hauling ass out of the fan holding something heavy and dangerous looking as she ran towards Eliot.

He’d failed. 

Everything went black.

______________________

Hardison watched each bullet enter Eliot’s back as he ran towards the van, and instantly felt his body light up with pure panic. No, this wasn’t- Eliot was on the ground, trying to get back up, and Hardison could see the struggle to actually move. He could see the stream of thick almost black blood pouring from Eliot’s mouth as he tried to speak.

Everything happened so fast after that. Parker exited the van with what Hardison thought was a pipe wrench from the tools in the cabinet. More panic rose as he watched her shout and run towards Eliot on the ground, the guy with the automatic weapon just past him. He was not going to lose both of them- Either of them! Fuck.

The next thing he knew he was flinging the van into drive and swiveling around with squealing tires to get the van closer to Eliot. He was yanking the wheel at one point and slamming the side of the van into the man with the gun. He was scrambling to get out of the van and get Eliot and Parker into it.

He was going to _kill_ Nate.

__________________

Hardison was driving the van, a little recklessly if Parker was being honest, but she didn’t really care. She cared only about Eliot’s blood slick hand holding onto hers as she looked down at him through the tears welling in her eyes. 

He was struggling to breathe, and Parker wasn’t sure that he was actually seeing anything around him at the moment; and she was _so scared_ that he wasn’t going to make it through this.

She’d seen him get shot before. She’d seen him get beaten and broken before, but this was different. His pulse was thready where her fingers lightly pressed into his pulse point, as she tried to keep her voice calm when she told him to hold on, that they were close to the hospital.

They usually didn’t do hospitals, Eliot would just patch himself or them up, but this wasn’t something he could fix. Especially if he was unconscious, and Parker wanted to rip something to shreds because Eliot had never been this bad off. He’d always walked away, walked back to them, and she was panicking that he would come walking back to them this time.

___________________

“Where is he?” Nates voice called out as he and Sophie rushed into the waiting area. 

It took literally everything inside of Hardison not to let Parker loose when she went to jump towards him.

“Surgery. You need to leave.” Hardison clipped out, his fingers gripping at Parker’s upper arms to hold her against him and away from Nate.

“What-”

“This is _your_ fault!” Parker growled out through clenched teeth, and God Hardison loved her so much. He almost let her go so that she could sink those teeth into Nate, but he looked over at Sophie and decided against it.

“This isn’t- So the job went a little wrong-”

“ _A little wrong!?_ ” Hardison started, feeling his pulse, which was already quick and stuttering, hammer harder in his chest. 

“Nate!” Sophie admonished, moving over to Hardison and Parker to speak quieter. “What happened- Is Eliot-- What’s-”

“He’s in surgery,” Parker interrupted her, turning her cold eyes onto Sophie and not letting them soften any. Hardison knew that it was because she was scared, Hell, he was scared as hell too, and the thing about Parker and Eliot both was that they got angry and defensive when they were scared.

“More than ten bullets in his back, broken ribs, bruises, cuts, et cetera.” Hardison elaborated. “From what they’ve told us so far, there was internal hemorrhaging, and punctured organs.” He squeezed Parker’s back against his chest for his own comfort and continued, “it wasn’t a promising outlook when they wheeled him back to surgery.”

He’d struggled to get those words out and he could see Sophie jerk at the words. Her hands twitched like she wanted to reach out to them. Hardison thought that she knew; that the three of them were a thing, had been a thing for quite some time now, from basically the time that Nate proposed and the two of them fucked off to God knows where to be married or whatever.

“Look, Eliot’s going to be fine,” Nate said, “he’s always fine. That’s what he does.”

“He is _not_ fine!!” Hardison snapped, grip on Parker releasing as he whirled around and grabbed Nate by the lapels of his blazer. He clenched his hands so hard in the fabric that he lifted Nate onto his toes a little bit. He ignored how the others called his name sharply, “You weren’t there! Why weren’t you there!? You’re supposed to be the mastermind here!” Hardison punctuated his words with little jerks of his fists in Nate’s jacket, shaking the man as he struggled not to scream in his face while in the waiting area. ”You were supposed to call all the shots and make sure that the plan worked and everyone made it out okay! We needed you! We _needed_ you! And-”

“I’m sorry! I can fix this, get him the best treatment or-”

“Don’t you think you’ve done enough, man?!” Hardison started moving before he really thought about it, barely restraining his full strength as he shoved Nate’s back into the closest wall. He rarely had the urge to smash things, but right now he really wanted to smash something. Preferably Nate’s less than panicked face. “Aren’t you satisfied? Don’t you understand what you’ve done?? You went into this whole job half-cocked and now Eliot’s _dying_ on a surgical table because he made a fucking promise to Sophie to take care of us while Ya’ll fucked off to the married lifedom and left us here to do the work. _You_ left. Then you come back here and say you have a job for us and that you and Sophie will stick around for it and run it, but then you fuck it up so badly that Eliot’s gonna d-”

“He’s not going to die,” Sophie told him, placing a hand on his bicep and pulling him back from Nate. She looked torn between defending Nate and being there for Hardison and Parker, and honestly fuck all that.

“No, you know what, fuck that. Fuck this, and fuck you.” Hardison pointed at both of them. “You got slack, and then cocky, and then half-assed this whole job, so you need to leave. Both of you.”

“Hardison-”

“No, Sophie, I can’t even- Just go.” Hardison snapped, snatching his arm from Sophie’s touch and turned back to Parker, pulling her into his chest with shaking hands and pressing his lips to her hair as she wrapped her arms around him.

“Just go.” Parker added, her voice a little smaller now that she was pressed into Hardison’s chest, the both of them reeling with so many emotions at the moment that she sounded drained.

Hardison wasn’t sure when Sophie and Nate actually left the waiting area, but when he opened his eyes and looked over, they were gone. He wished a part of him felt bad about telling them to fuck right off, but the biggest part of him was just shattering at the thought of Eliot not pulling through this.

_________________

Parker had never seen Eliot so banged up before. So broken and small looking. He hadn’t woken up yet from before they even got to the hospital. She’d spent the entire drive to the hospital squeezing Eliot’s blood slick hand and telling him that he was not allowed to leave her. To leave them. That they needed him, that they would _not_ be okay without him, they never wanted to be without him. So he just had to open his eyes- _Open your eyes Eliot! Eliot!_

Now he was lying in the single sized hospital bed, hooked up to monitors and tubes and everything had that gross fluorescent tinge to it, and Parker didn’t like this. She didn’t like that Eliot looked so frail when he was the literal strongest person that she ever knew. He bled and he bruised, but he was never not okay, and he always had the gruff rasp in his voice when he said he was fine, no stop poking my bruises, dammit Parker.

She liked to poke his bruises, normally, to hear him say her name like that. She was always so delighted when Eliot had to put on his gruff persona to keep from outwardly getting all fond with her or Hardison. He’d gotten better over the years of them all working together, of finally being together, but he still did it. She knew that he thought he had to be this disinterest ass-ish acting person, so that he didn’t come off as soft and warm, and weak- But Parker also knew… Noone loved like Eliot loved. 

And she loved him so fucking much. Him and Hardison were her everything, the reasons that she felt the things she felt instead of remaining like the cold disassociated thief that she was before they all began this thing. She couldn’t lose that, and she felt her chest tighten at the mere thought of it.

She was panicking again before she knew it, only really recognizing it when she felt Hardison pull her against his chest and press his lips to her forehead. She realized that her cheeks were wet and that her hands trembled where they wrapped in the shirt at Hardison’s chest.

“Alec, I-”

“I know, baby,” he responded, squeezing her into his body like he could fuse them and piece them together where Parker was shattering at the edges at the sight of Eliot so broken on the hospital bed. “I know. But he made it through surgery, and the doctors said that it would prolly be a rough recovery, but that he’d be fine.”

“He looks so….” Parker trailed off, sucking in a hiccuping breath before turning her face into Hardison’s chest and closing her eyes as she breathed through the sob that was threatening to escape.

“He’s the strongest person we know,” Hardison told her, kissing at her hair repeatedly and then resting his lips there. “If there’s literally anyone in the world who can get through this, then it’s our man, okay? He’s gonna wake up and look at us with those glaringly blue eyes and say ‘Dammit, Hardison’ because I let you jump outa that van.”

“Hardison, what if-” Parker lifted her head and looked up at him, fear clenching her throat so tight that she almost whined. “What if this-”

“It won't be, okay? I….It can’t be, because he’s always promised that he’d always be there to help us get out of a situation, right?’

“But this- Hardison-- I-- Alec.”

“I know, babe.” Hardison leaned down to kiss her stuttering lips, and Parker slid her arms around him to hold on tightly, so that she wouldn’t completely fall apart. 

Just the mere thought of- No. She had to stop. She had to take a deep breath and think something positive and optimistic, because Eliot was _going_ to be fine. He had to be. There was no them without him, no way they’d be able to live without Eliot.

Parker let out steadying breaths as she pressed her face into the side of Hardison’s neck, holding him just as tightly as he was holding her; because they couldn’t hold Eliot the way they wanted to. She listened to the steady sounds of the beeping, the whizzing of the machines, letting it wash over her and help ground her until she was calm enough to open her eyes.

“You’re right.” She told him, pressing her lips to Hardison’s neck before stepping back to look at Eliot’s sleeping form. “He’s gonna be okay.”

And then the steady beeping turned into one constant tone, and Parker almost lost her mind.

_______________________

_Beep_

_Beep_

_Beep_

Eliot came to in small waves. First it was the pain, everything else muted and fuzzy. His entire body felt like it had been put through a wood shredder. The second was his hearing. He could hear the sounds of the hospital room- he’d been in plenty of them, it was a very distinctive sound of monitors, electricity, breathing apparatuses, and beeping. The third thing to come to him was semi-conscious thought, where he remembered vaguely what happened and had the striking panic that Hardison and Parker hadn’t gotten out by the time he’d went down.

Haridson.

Parker.

The fourth thing that came back to him was his ability to move. He’d been in pain before, he’d pushed through and moved his body through some impossible pain, and right now that panic surged him upwards in the bed and he opened his eyes. Eyes that immediately looked around for the two people that meant the most to him in this world. They had to be okay. He couldn’t have failed them- Well, he did, but he hoped to everything holy in the fucking universe that he hadn’t failed enough that they didn’t get out of that warehouse district.

“Woah, hey! Don’t do that-” A voice startled out, hands were suddenly pressed to his chest to push him back onto the bed, and Eliot had his fingers around the bones of that hand so quick that the owner let out a pained yelp and snatched away from him.

“Eliot, calm down!” Another voice said, a hand laid gently on his cheek, fingers brushing the hair lightly off his forehead. 

Oh. Oh. He knew that gesture. That was a gesture that Parker usually did automatically when she noticed his hair sliding into his face. Like she didn’t even realize that her hand was moving. It was a gesture so full of love that Eliot sank back down onto the bed and let out a shaking breath as his eyes began to sting.

He closed his eyes, clenching his jaw tight and feeling the pressure and pain from a bruised mandible. 

“Parker,” he mumbled through clenched teeth, and he felt the fingers trace down the side of his face.

“We’re okay,” the first voice said, those hands returning to his chest, gently now and very much avoiding the areas that Eliot assumed were bandaged. 

“Alec,” Eliot turned his head towards the voice and moved one of his hands, gripping the fingers at his chest as tightly as he could.

“We’re okay, you did good, you got us out,” Hardison told him, voice a little trembley. Eliot figured it was because he said Alec instead of Hardison because that was left for the special moments.

“What-”

“You were shot,” Parker told him, her fingers idly playing with the hair behind his ear. Fuck, even his ears hurt.

“How’d-”

“Hardison hit the guy with the van,” she snickered a little, shifting a little closer without actually being on the bed.

Eliot’s eyes snapped open as he tried to process that, “you hit someone with the va- Wh- Hardison.”

“Yeah, well, he had his gun pointed at you and Parker, so I had to use what I could.” Hardison told him, thumb rubbing smoothly over Eliot’s cracked and busted knuckles. He didn’t feel anything but aches from the motion, but he appreciated it nonetheless.

“You’re both okay?” Eliot asked, looking between the two of them and trying to keep the wobble from his voice. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if they weren’t okay.

“Yeah, not a scratch on us.” Parker answered, smiling at him so forcibly that Eliot moved a hand and slid it along the side of her jaw and neck to squeeze just a bit, despite the ache the motion caused.

“Then why do you look like you’re in pain?”

“Why do you think, dummy?” She poked at his chest and Eliot let out a groaned ‘don’t’. “You-.. Eliot.” She shook and turned her head, shifting her eyes towards the door. Eliot felt the muscles in her throat work from where his hand was still gently pressed to her neck. “I thought-”

“You really thought I was dead?” Eliot asked, then snorted even though it hurt. 

“Aren’t you afraid to die?” She asked, her voice small. She still wouldn’t look at him, and Eliot’s heart clenched a little bit.

He had to get that tone from her voice, the shudder in her vocal chords that made Eliot want to smash things. He knew she was fighting off tears, and he hated himself for making that happen.

“Parker,” he started, attempting to shift and sit up again. He let out an infinitesimal whine at the pull on his wounds and tightened his hand. “Hey, Parker, lookit me.”

After a moment, she finally turned her head and looked at him, and Eliot let out a shuddering breath at the welled up tears in her eyes, the slight wobble of her lip.

“No, Parker,” Eliot shook his head a little, moving his hand to brush his thumb under her eyes as a tear finally tipped over her lower lid. “I’m not afraid of dying.” He swallowed a little roughly, squeezing Hardison’s fingers in his other hand, but keeping the one against Parker’s face gentle as can be. “I’m afraid that I’ll live after _you_ don’t. Both of you. Cuz then…. Then I’d have failed in my most important mission.”

Parker let out a shaking little breath, sort of like a laugh, and turned her cheek into his hand. 

“What about us? What if you’d- I don’t...We couldn’t-” She started and Eliot shushed her lightly, sliding his hand around the back of her head and pulling her closer to him. 

“C’mere,” he mumbled, pulling her so that she was leaning over his face enough that he could lift his head and brush his lips lightly against hers. He used this as sort of a distraction from the question she was trying to ask- What if he’d died and they were left without him. He didn’t want to think about that. He never wanted to leave them. He could at least say that much. “I never wanna leave you, okay? I just want you to be safe, that’s all I’ve ever wanted for you.”

“Okay,” she nodded, brushing her lips along his one more time before straightening back up. Eliot could tell that she didn’t want to touch any part of him that could potentially hurt- which was a far cry from how she usually poked and prodded his bruises gleefully.

Eliot felt his heart trip up again. Godammit. He looked over at Hardison again, letting his eyes sweep over the slightly red eyes, the puffiness and dark circles under them. The same expression that was on Parker’s face and currently shattering Eliot’s everything.

“Hey,” he tugged on Hardison’s fingers, and Hardison’s eyes met his. Eliot attempted to give him a reassuring smile, pulling Hardison’s hand in an attempt to get him to move closer as well. Luckily, Hardison seemed to understand and he didn’t have to move much more before Hardison was closing the distance between their mouths, letting his lips linger over Eliot’s so gently that Eliot wanted to scream.

____________________

Hardison didn’t want to touch any part of Eliot that would cause him pain- and that actually included his lips, which were split and stitched on the left side. But Eliot clearly wanted, or needed, the kiss, so Hardison just made it as gentle as he possibly could before letting his butt fall back down into his seat. Shit, he needed the kiss just as much, especially after hearing that steady one-toned beep ring through the rough earlier.

He had one hand in Eliot’s, the other wrapped around Parker’s, the three of them connecting in a triangle of angst, and Hardison was so fucking tired. The adrenaline, anger, and panic had subsided once the doctors had come barrelling into the room and got quick to work making Eliot’s heart beat again as quickly as possible. He’d released so much tension from his body that he’d almost fallen onto the floor. Shit, if Parker hadn’t been holding him around the waist, he was pretty sure his knees woulda given out and he’da sank right to the floor and cried like a baby.

Not that he wasn’t already crying like a baby in a mass panic, but, that was besides the point.

But Eliot made it through surgery. He’d had ten slugs pulled from his body, a few internal organs sewed up, and his skin knitted back together from the scalpel and the fight with the goons. He’d made it through coding in his hospital room. They’d had a hell of a time earlier explaining what the fuck had happened, but Hardison had just panicked and said that they were just enjoying a walk and then suddenly there were bullets flying everywhere and Eliot, being the closest to it, had shielded them. That didn’t explain the obvious signs of a fight, but the doctors were definitely more concerned about the bullet wounds.

He previously didn’t really get another chance to think about it, because he was all worked up for other reasons. Like having a yelling match with Nate and Sophie- which, in retrospect, may have been too much? But Parker hadn’t said anything about it, so he was pretty sure she was just as pissed and messed up about all this as Hardison was.

Hardison was brought from his thoughts by Eliot’s voice, “when can I get out of here?”

“Get out-- Man, you just got shot! Multiple times! And had your organs and shit sewed back together and you wanna- They had to bring you back to life- Park-” Hardison stammered, feeling his hand spasm in Eliot’s.

“We can’t stay here, the heats on this whole situation-”

“He’s right, Hardison, we need to get out of here.”

“I’ve taken care of myself post op before, okay, we just need to get out of here and back home and I’ll be fine.” Eliot told him, grunting as he shifted to sit up on the bed. “Just get me to our bed and I’ll be good to go soon enough.”

Hardison sighed heavily, looking at the heavens for guidance. These two were literally gonna be the death of him.

____________________

Parker snorted as Hardison helped Eliot into their apartment, grousing the whole way like this was the worst fucking idea he’d ever heard in his life. She knew Alec was just worried, and so was she, but Eliot was right. The hospital was not the place to be, when people would start asking more questions about the dude who got shot up while being super beat up. She understood it and had swiped Eliot’s chart to get the list of medications that Eliot would need after the surgery. She’d then made her way into the hospital pharmacy and gotten her hands on as much of each medicine as she could so that they’d then have a stash of medical grade medicines like antibiotics and painkillers for when Eliot was sure to get himself beat up again. She also stole suture kits, antiseptics, and anything that they may need for a home surgery should the need ever arise.

What, she was a thief.

She dropped the duffle bag with Eliot’s bloodied clothes and all of the medical supplies on the dining room table and followed Eliot and Hardison into the bedroom. Hardison was gently removing the stolen lab coat from Eliot’s shoulders so that Eliot could lie down on the bed.

Parker sucked in a sharp breath at the various bandages covering Eliot’s back, where she knew he was riddled with bullet holes. Her throat tightened again at the sight and she cleared her throat. 

“You want anything? Drink? Food? Sponge bath?” She knew that he’d already gotten a sponge bath post surgery, but she needed to add some sort of humor into this or she was going to cry again.

“I’m just going to get you some water,” she added on and spun around, moving out of the room and into the kitchen.

________________________

Eliot sighed as Parker spun around and left the room. He understood, really, he did, but he wanted- well needed- to keep both of them in his sights at the moment. He followed the guidance of Hardison’s hands and moved into the center of the bed with what he hoped was minimal noises of pain.

‘Cause fuck it hurt to move. He was going to be out of commission for a good minute, and that meant that he was going to absolutely forbid Parker and Hardison from doing any sort of jobs that put them in any danger at all. Because Eliot couldn’t protect them if he was bed ridden, and he was definitely going to be bed ridden as his body worked to heal from this absolute shit show of trauma.

He was going to fucking kill Nate. With his half-cocked, egotistical bullshit almost getting them all killed.

“Hey,” fingers rubbed the furrow from between his eyebrows, and Eliot sighed. “Get outa your head, Spencer.” 

“Dammit, Hardison,” Eliot moved his head from Hardison’s gentle touch and let out a grumble. He didn’t need Hardison worried about him more than he already was, and he didn’t want to seem _affected_ by what had happened.

“Shush.” Hardison told him, rearranging the pillows a little so that Eliot was more comfortable before he pulled the sheet up to Eliot’s navel. “Just… Get some rest,okay?”

“Ya’ll don’t-”

“I know, we’re not leaving the apartment- We’re not gonna leave this room, okay, so you just close your eyes and rest so that you heal up real quick like.” Hardison leaned down and brushed his lips over Eliot’s forehead, and Eliot wanted to scream again.

“Dammit,” he tilted his head up before Hardison could leave and kissed him for real, because this gentle bullshit was starting to piss him off. “I’m not fragile.” He growled on, lifting a hand and tugging on Hardison’s shirt a little bit. “Just, take off these clothes and get in here with me.”

“Eliot, I don’t think that’s a good idea-” Hardison let out a tiny noise when Eliot yanked on his shirt. 

“Do it, Hardison.”

“Fine, okay, just.. Let me shower off the hospital and then we’ll do that, okay?” He lifted up, keeping Eliot’s balled fist in his hand and turned his head, “Parker!”

She returned to the room with a glass of water and some crackers, which she handed to Eliot when she got close enough. Hardison had released his hand in order for him to hold them. Eliot watched Hardison smile a little before he looked at Parker and suggested they shower before they all took a nap.

Eliot was positive that they were fucking exhausted. He was positive they hadn’t slept a wink while he was in the hospital, and the job before that had been spotty at best when it came to getting sleep. He didn’t want to be stuck in bed while they were showering, but the way Hardison suggested meant that they’d be showering together, and quickly, to get back to Eliot as quickly as they could.

He startled awake a little while later, realizing belatedly that he’d fallen asleep with a cracker in one hand the glass of water resting between his hip and his other hand. Eliot cleared his throat a little and looked around the room, noticing Parker and Hardison getting dressed. 

He loved how they slept, honestly. Parker only slept in a pair of lace panties while Hardison just had on a pair of briefs. He hated that Hardison hadn’t pulled his pants off before forcing him to get into the bed. At least they were a pair of scrub pants so they were soft against his skin. He’d much rather be naked, though, which is how he usually preferred to sleep.

Hardison had laughed for five whole minutes when he found this out, because he just imagined someone breaking into Eliot’s living space at some point and suddenly having to fight off a very pissed off naked-as-a-jay-bird Eliot. He’d give him that, though, because the thought was pretty damn funny, and it made him quirk a smile now as he watched the two of them slide carefully onto the bed with him.

It was a gigantic bed. A custom king size with plenty of room for three grown adults, but Eliot wasn’t having any of this bullshit right now.

“Don’t be nervous, just- you can come closer.” Eliot told them both. Parker had just removed the water and crackers from his gasp and set them on the bed side table next to her.

“We don’t want to accidentally hurt you.” Parker said, her voice small and a little breathless.

“You’re not hurtin’ me. You’re not heavy, just, c’mere.” Eliot moved an arm- luckily movement was easier now that he had some good pain killers in his system- and carefully wrapped it around her to pull her closer to him. He knew, logically, that the medicine would wear off, but he also knew that he needed them both to be in his arms right this very minute, and he’d kill someone if that didn’t happen. 

“Eliot, I don’t,” she was already moving with his arm, lying down carefully next to him and pillowing her cheek on the part of his shoulder that was blemish, wound, and bandage free.

“I’ve got ya, Darlin’.” Eliot murmured, moving his other hand and tilting her chin up so that he could kiss her. He let the kiss linger for a moment, soft and gentle, and then very carefully pushed it a little further until she opened up a little and let his tongue slip into her mouth. 

Eliot could kiss her for eternity and never stop getting the flutters in his stomach. However, right now, he had someone else to kiss as well. He trailed his thumb down Parker’s bottom lip and chin before he turned his head and let the same hand travel over to grasp the back of Hardison’s neck lightly.

“You too,” he mumbled, hauling Hardison in a bit stronger than he had moved Parker. Hardison did most of the moving, though, leaning over Eliot and pressing immediately into a slow, deep kiss that had Eliot’s toes curling a little bit.

Once the kissing stopped, the three of them settled down on the bed. Parker and Hardison both tucked against Eliot’s side with his arms around them both. It’d prolly suck later, but right now Eliot could sleepily trail his fingers over their scalps, necks, and shoulders without thought while they were all lulled to sleep by the comfort of being pressed together.

_________________________

Eliot was loath to admit that it took him _weeks_ to actually recover from the shooting. He was stuck in bed for a good portion of it, only allowed up to use the bathroom and shower, which usually involved one or both of the others to ensure that he didn’t pull at the stitches. When he’d deemed his skin healed up enough, Eliot had Parker cut and remove the stitches from his body while Hardison grimaced and held Eliot’s hand like he was the one getting threads pulled from his skin.

While he was recuperating, Hardison and Parker would either both stay with him, or one would wander out of the room to find something else to do in the apartment. Hardison brought his laptop and would work on small hacking jobs while Eliot watched some cooking shows on the television, mentally thinking of how to use these recipes for the three of them. Parker would bring her equipment into the bed and work on fixing it or setting it up, or..actually whatever it was she was doing with it.

When Eliot was suture free and able to move without pain, he had to growl at the two of them that he was perfectly fine to _finally_ get out of bed, thank you very much. Jesus. The first thing he did was move over to the kitchen and start cooking something to eat- because, honestly, Hardison _could_ cook, but that didn’t mean that he was great at it. It had actually been a lot of take out for the last few weeks, and Eliot was so relieved to get back into the kitchen.

He was 98% sure the other two were relieved as well.

Once he could move freely and without any pain at all, Eliot started testing himself with movements and fitness. He gingerly worked his body back in to shape,taking it easy on himself so that he didn’t fuck something up that could possibly still be healing. But they had to get back to work. Sure, they all had various, possibly even copious, amounts of money, but he also knew that both Parker and Hardison (Especially Parker) were chompin’ at the bit to get back to work.

Eliot was partially ready to get back to work as well, because he had a lot of anger that he needed to release by beating the shit out of other people. He half-wished that he could do that to Nate, but he also knew that that was a moot point.

Hardison and Parker had told him what had happened at the hospital between them and Nate/Sophie. Eliot had been so fiercely proud of Hardison slamming Nate into the wall that he’d very carefully slid down the bed and sucked Hardison off right then and there. There had been half-hearted protests about his healing wounds before Hardison practically melted into the bed and came undone by Eliot’s mouth.

___________________________

Hardison walked into the bedroom and stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of Eliot doing handstand push ups or some shit.

“Man, what in the blazing hell-- You are still healing- You can’t just--”He walked over towards Eliot and watched as he dismounted the hand stand so fluidly that Hardison let out a sharp yelp when hands wrapped around him and he was suddenly slammed onto the bed with Eliot hovering over him.

“I’m perfectly healed up, Hardison.” Eliot- fuck, Eliot _purred_. Hardison instantly felt all the blood in his body rush to his pants, and he was sure that Eliot knew exactly what just happened.

“You-I-We- You’re not.” Hardison stammered out, feeling his pants grow uncomfortable tight.

Eliot slowly lowered himself down completely on top of Hardison, hips pushing cleverly against Hardison as he smirked a little crookedly, “I’ll prove it.”

“Oh, is it that time?” Parker’s voice echoed through the room, and Hardison tilted his head to look at the bedroom door where Parker was already pulling her t-shirt off.

“Woman-!” Hardison gulped a little bit, “I really don’t think- We don’t have- the healing-”

“All healed up, Alec.” Eliot’s teeth grazed Hardison’s ear lobe, and his brain short circuited a little bit. 

“Oh-Okay.” Hardison nodded and tilted his head back towards Eliot, immediately engrossed in a filthy kiss that left him breathless and panting.

Parker moved over to the bed, her hands skimming down Eliot’s bare, slightly sweaty back, skating over fresh scars and old ones. “Mm, it’s about time.” She murmured before hopping up onto the bed beside them and draping herself over Eliot’s back, lips attached to his neck.

Oh yeah, it was definitely about damn time.

“Fuck, yes,” Hardison sighed out to the Gods, fully on board and moving his hands to get to work.


End file.
